Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1349 Rio ([-])

Rio de Janeiro in late September has gradually become hot.

Accompanied by Bai Yutang, director of the Ministry of Trade, Cornelis Bickel came to the port of Hue, which is undergoing intensive repair and expansion work. They were carried by a naval escort gunboat, and they left their group behind. After officials, large and small, the warship with more than 20 long and short cannons set sail again, taking advantage of the rare southeasterly wind, heading straight for the coast of northeastern Brazil.It's going there to see if there is any daring guy who dares to stroke his beard when the navy on the east coast is so tightly blocked.

Well, in fact, there are still people who dare to come.People from the east coast have recently intercepted many merchant ships from Britain, France and other countries, most of which were intercepted outside San Salvador Bay. Sometimes Bai Yutang felt that these people were too stupid. Recife, San Salvador The big ports must be closely monitored. If you want to smuggle, you have to go to some small ports. If you drive here so swaggeringly, it is still daytime. Are you blind when you think of the east coast navy!

For these intercepted merchant ships, the original policy of the East Coast was to forcibly purchase the items on board and then let them go away quickly, which was the case for those British merchant ships at that time.But until now, the navy's policy on these merchant ships is to expel them all, so that these captains or merchants can only find opportunities to ship to small ports, or simply ship them to other places (such as New Courland or the East Coast) for sale. , Even the navy sank some two British and French merchant ships in the sea where no one encountered them, it can be said to be arrogant.You know, during the Anglo-Dutch naval battle, ships on the east coast swaggered into the United Provinces carrying a large amount of goods, but the British warships were allowed to pass without interception. People on the east coast are doing too much now, but who cares? You came to South America to bite me!

After Bai Yutang and Cornelis got off the pier, they immediately headed for the city. After learning that Lieutenant Zhou Yafu had gone to the inland forest to personally supervise the battle against the bandits, Bai Yutang felt a little helpless, so he could only stay with Cornelis in the original Portuguese A certain government office stayed inside, and then sent someone to find Zhou Yafu.

"Mr. Bickle, what is the current situation of the West India Company? Since your country was forced to abandon Recife, Olinda and other places, you have rarely seen your company's ships in this sea area..." Someone hurriedly called out from the Ministry of Trade, and then was hurriedly asked to accompany Cornelis Bickle, the special envoy of the West India Company, to Hue Port for inspection. Bai Yutang couldn't help asking, he was really curious, Because many people in the Ministry said that the situation of the Dutch West India Company has not been good in recent years. It took a long time to get back the money for the goods sold to them, and they had several loans (materials + cash loans) in Recife. , the total principal and interest exceeds 20 yuan) is about to expire, but the Dutch proposed to extend the period, which is surprising. When did the Dutch West India Company, which is famous all over the New World and West Africa, get involved in this field? It shouldn’t be!

Cornelis glanced at Bai Yutang. He knew who this handsome young man was. He was the eldest son of Dean Bai Siwen. His mother was a branch member of the Almeida family. He was good at poetry, literature, hunting, and Eastern law since he was a child. A graduate of a specialized school (secondary specialized school), but accidentally entered the trade department, but he did a good job, his position is not low, and his future is optimistic by many people-this time he can be sent to accompany him to inspect Hue Hong Kong itself has already demonstrated its strength.

"The company's main energy is now concentrated in Africa, which is an important source of profit. Of course, the sugar industry in Guyana and the trade in the Caribbean Sea continue to operate, and we have full confidence in these industries, otherwise I would not come here. Rio de Janeiro." Cornelis Bickle said briefly.

Bai Yutang nodded slightly when he heard the words. Although the Dutchman spoke very briefly, Bai Yutang, who had been in the trade department for a long time and learned a lot, understood it.The Dutch West India Company, after losing Pernambuco, an important sugar production area, has now shifted its main energy to West Africa. It is estimated that it is operating the black slave business. After all, this is also a business with a broad market and high total profits. .In addition, similar to the British Royal Explorer African Trading Company, I am afraid that this company is also buying gold from the natives, which is also very profitable-no wonder, after the loss of Pernambuco, this sea area The merchant ships of the West India Company suddenly decreased, and the co-authors went to Africa to manage black slaves and gold business.

However, they probably haven’t completely given up on the sugar business. I heard that Dutch Guiana’s sugar production is close to 2500 tons a year, and more than 30 refineries in Amsterdam are already fully operational. The output is 1 tons, but it is already quite good. After all, there is no war here, and it is purely earned.Back then in Brazil, there were frequent wars with the Portuguese and huge expenditures. The money earned from 2 to 1 tons of sucrose may not be enough to fill the bottomless pit of Brazil, otherwise the West India Company would not have lost money year after year.

Of course, as a partner of many years, although the Dutch West India Company has shifted its business focus, they obviously do not want to give up the extremely potential trade with the East Coast Republic of China, such as the New Spain market with the Caribbean Shipping Company. (Recently they have also started to import salt from Cape Verde), and this time Cornelis came to Hue Port on behalf of the headquarters of the West India Company, which should also be for this purpose.

"I heard that your company intends to invest in sugar cane plantations in Hue Port. Please forgive me for being hard to understand. Your country already has a solid foundation in Guyana's colony. Why do you want to go to the east coast?" Bai Yutang asked .In fact, he has been thinking about this question for a long time, but he still has no idea. Since he will be idle this time, he might as well just ask Cornelis.

Unexpectedly, Cornelis Bickel, the director of the West India Company, was a little embarrassed when he heard the words. He didn't know what to say, so he could only stammer to Bai Yutang casually.Thinking about it, how do you say this? People on the east coast think that Guyana is the territory of the West India Company, but it is embarrassing that the local immigrants serving the West India Company do not account for the majority. On the contrary, there are many British immigrants. If they are willing , and can even overthrow the weak local rule of the West India Company at any time, provided that the West India Company does not mobilize troops from overseas to suppress it by force.The reason why they didn't do this now is simply because the purchase price given by the Dutch West India Company was more reasonable and did not infringe on their interests.

And because of this, the top and bottom of the West India Company were uneasy about this. They did not dare to forcibly expel the local English planters or farmers, fearing that they would be plunged into war because of this, and the company might go bankrupt immediately instead of as it is now. Can still linger on.But they also couldn't give up the huge profits from the sugar trade. Therefore, after being inspired by the Genoese to invest in sugar cane plantations on Xinhua Island (they obviously couldn't go to the Indian Ocean because that was the territory of the rich and powerful East India Company), they He intends to return to Brazil again and find a place here in Rio de Janeiro, which is occupied by the East Coasters, to establish a sugar cane plantation.

Of course, this approach is not without criticism within the West India Company, because no matter how many people the West India Company emigrates to Rio de Janeiro, the East Coast Republic of China will definitely not allow this place to be encroached by the Dutch. There is no doubt about the sovereignty of this land It is still the number one power in this new continent, there is no doubt about it.So with that in mind, many people on the West India Company board still have doubts about investing in Rio de Janeiro, and they feel they might as well invest more in Guyana, compete with the Brits there, and develop land for themselves Yes, the production and sales of sucrose are also in their own hands, so it is naturally much better than going to the east bank to live under the fence.

But - still the but - the Dutchman was a little less confident about being able to successfully compete against the British in the Guyana area, and this, coupled with the arguments of Cornelis Bickle, who had worked with the East Coaster for many years, made the board In the end, he was appointed to take a look at the East Bank, discuss the conditions, and see if he could be accepted by the board of directors.In addition, by the way, confirm the extension of those few loans with the people on the east coast. The company will invest a lot in West Africa, and the money is a little tight. Let's talk about the principal and interest of more than 20 yuan.

Lieutenant Zhou Yafu came back from the inland two days later. He was riding a Raschek horse with several human heads hanging from the saddle, which surprised Bai Yutang—later he heard that it was some "stubborn The head of the Indian tribal chief who was "spirit" was brought back by someone Zhou to show off his martial arts.

Cornelis turned a blind eye to this, and when Lieutenant Zhou Yafu came back, he immediately asked Bai Yutang if he could arrange an inspection of the investment environment as soon as possible.Bai Yutang had no choice but to ask Zhou Yafu. Zhou Yafu shrugged indifferently, and then arranged for his officers to lead a couple of people into the inland area with them. As for himself, he went back to the city to rest.

It took almost a month for Cornelis's men to run around Hue Port and its surrounding areas.Naturally, there is no problem with the environment here, and the Dutch are indeed very satisfied, so the next step is to negotiate conditions, although they only use this as an alternative, that is, once Guyana is captured by the British, they will not have a piece of sucrose on hand. There are no alternatives for the place of origin, but the conditions to be negotiated still need to be negotiated, and the benefits to be won still need to be fought for, such as whether the people on the east coast can allow the Dutch merchant ships to directly transport sucrose back to Amsterdam for refining, such as whether People on the east coast can be asked to reduce the tariff rate on sugar exported to the United Provinces, etc.

Bai Yutang listened carefully to the conditions proposed by Cornelis, and asked his secretary to write them down from time to time.However, after hearing that Cornelis intends to introduce a large number of blacks from West Africa to work on the plantation, he finally frowned. This seems to be unprecedented in China!Nowadays, non-citizens on the east coast are not allowed to keep slaves at all, except for large farms run by the government, logging camps, construction teams, brick kilns, and mines (not even signing so-called employment contracts for laborers). .Now the Dutch actually proposed to introduce a large number of black slaves in the Hue area to set up plantations. This seems to have the risk of touching the red line of the policy. Bai Yutang did not dare to be professional, so he could only keep it in his heart, and planned to ask his superiors for instructions as soon as he returned. Let's see how to deal with this matter. After all, it seems that the Dutchman may come to invest now, although it is likely to be only a small-scale test of the water.

In addition to the matter of black slaves, other conditions of the Dutch also made Bai Yutang frown. For example, they did not want to hand over the sugar produced in their sugarcane plantations to the people on the east coast for refining, but wanted to directly bring it back to Amsterdam for refining. , This is undoubtedly suspected of challenging the economic order of Hue Port. If the Italian businessmen know about it, they may cause trouble. Therefore, this item is absolutely unacceptable, and Bai Yutang even rejected it immediately.In addition, Bai Yutang did not give a definite answer on whether to reduce the tariff rate of sucrose exported to the United Provinces, but judging by the expression and expression on his face, it was probably not possible.

Cornelis also frowned at this time. He didn't expect to come to the east bank to invest in plantations. They set so many rules and regulations. They didn't give the West India Company any preferential treatment. It was like treating them like serfs. Exploitation—of course he also selectively forgets that the Dutch West India Company used to treat the sugar cane planters in Guyana, the Caribbean islands, and Pernambuco in much the same way—this made him very angry. Unhappily, his complexion immediately turned a little ugly, and he even wanted to seek credit support from the East Coast people for investing in the plantation, but he didn't mention it now, because he was afraid of being rejected by the East Coast people again. He can't afford to lose that face.

On October 10th, Cornelis and Bai Yutang, who looked unhappy, boarded a escort gunboat returning from Bahia, preparing to go to the capital Oriental Port.At this time, Lieutenant Zhou Yafu, who was seeing him off, suddenly mentioned something about the right of first refusal in the New Netherlands. Regarding this, Cornelis, who was in a bad mood, could only point out helplessly: Although the Dutch West India Company An agreement on the right of first refusal of New Netherland (at a price of 5 million guilders) was reached with the East Coast government, but the West India Company has no idea of ​​​​selling this colony for the time being and may not have any future.

After finishing speaking, he boarded the frigate of the East Coast People without looking back, planning to go to Dongfang Port for a while, visit some people a little before going back. This trip felt so bad that he even regretted the proposal Went to Rio de Janeiro to invest.

(End of this chapter)